Pakistan accepts ‘China’s version’ on Xinjiang’s Uyghur Muslims — PM Khan

A Muslim man carrying a prayer rug as he arrives at a mosque for the morning prayer in the old town of Kashgar in China's Xinjiang on June 26, 2017. (AFP/File)

• This is the first time a Pakistani prime minister has publicly endorsed Beijing’s narrative on the issue
• International rights groups have demanded UN investigation into the alleged persecution of Muslims in China’s northwest region

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday endorsed the Chinese version regarding Xinjiang’s 1.5 million Uyghur Muslims who have been allegedly facing stern human rights violations on a massive scale.
In an interaction with Chinese journalists, Khan observed that Beijing’s version on the issue was completely opposite to “what we hear from the western media and western governments.”
“Because we have a very strong relationship with China and because we have a relationship based on trust, we actually accept the Chinese version,” the prime minister said.
He noted that there were “much worse human rights issues” in the world that were not raised by the international press while referring to the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir.
“And we hear about Xinjiang and Hong Kong which is a bit hypocritical,” he continued.
Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization, claimed in one of its reports earlier this year that about a million Muslims in Xinjiang had been “arbitrarily detained in 300 to 400 facilities” that included “’political education’ camps, pretrial detention centers, and prisons.”
“Given the gravity of the abuses against Turkic Muslims, there is a pressing need for concerned governments to take strong, coordinated action to advance accountability,” the HRW said while recommending a UN inquiry into the alleged rights abuses against the Uyghur community.
Last month, the prime minister refused to acknowledge reports about Uyghur Muslims during an interview with Axios on HBO channel, saying: “Whatever issues we have with the Chinese, we speak to them behind closed doors.”
“China has been one of the greatest friends to us in our most difficult times,” he maintained. “When we were really struggling, our economy was struggling, China came to our rescue. So, we respect the way they are.”
This is the first time, however, Khan has publicly endorsed the Chinses version on Xinjiang.
Last October, Pakistan’s National Security Advisory Dr. Moeed Yusuf told an Indian journalist Karan Thapar that Islamabad was not worried about the situation in Xinjiang.
“We are 100 percent satisfied it is a non-issue,” he told the interviewer. “The West can say what it wants. I can say to you as a responsible official that we know everything about Uighurs and it is a non-issue.”
Pakistan and China are celebrating 70 years of their diplomatic relations this year.